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Atheist or Christian? What Do You Tell Your Children About Easter?
A confusing holiday?
My husband and I are a little stumped over what to tell our children about Easter. You’ve got the resurrection and you’ve got the Easter Bunny. We aren’t necessarily atheists, but we aren’t religious. We fall back on that old standby: spiritual.
So yeah. We’re spiritual, so what do we tell our kids about the impending holiday when even I am confused?
Easter is the oldest and most important Christian festival, marking the end of the fasting season of Lent and the death on Good Friday, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. So where did the bunny, chocolates and eggs come in? Many claim Easter actually stems from an ancient pagan ritual having to do with springtime, hence bunnies and eggs.
Pagan or Christian, the inevitable commercialization of Easter has bastardized it into this bizarre holiday hybrid of Christmas and Halloween. You’ve got the religious angle and the one involving kids and candy. Talk about mixed messages. So what does a “spiritual” parent teach her child about Easter?
I guess for now, it’s about the Easter Bunny. When they’re old enough to ask what the Easter Bunny and eggs are all about I suppose I’ll bring in the celebrating spring angle. And later? I can teach them about Jesus. I don’t know if he was actually resurrected, but by all accounts he was an all-around swell fellow, what with preaching about forgiveness and so forth.
What about you? Be ye Christian, Atheist, or “spiritual” like me, what do you tell your children about Easter?
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20 Comments
Angela commented on Apr 21 11 at 8:59 amMy son is only 2 so as you said we’ll really just be focusing on the Easter bunny and fun aspects of the holiday. As he gets old enough to understand I plan to explain to him that for many people this is a very religious time of year as well (not only Easter but Passover as well). What I would like emphasized is that regardless of what we do or don’t believe it’s important to be respectful of other’s traditions and beliefs.
Lucky commented on Apr 21 11 at 9:01 amIt’s about welcoming spring. It’s about new life. You can looks at it from a pagan nature-centered perspective where new life involves the impending growth and birth or from the Christian perspective of new life in the resurrection. So either way, we teach our kids that it’s about new life because I am pagan and my husband is Christian. :) (And yeah, there’s a healthy dose of easter bunny and lots of candy in there!)
Gib commented on Apr 21 11 at 9:21 amAs long as you don’t tell them the true true Christian meaning of Easter. Which is that Jesus got tortured to death because you are an evil sinner that deserves to go to hell.
Bunnies and chocolate is much nicer.
ChiLaura commented on Apr 21 11 at 9:41 amGIB, I’m sorry that that is your view on Christian Easter. More than a few of us have a totally different view of the work that Jesus did thru his death. It’s sad to see it distorted like that.
goddess commented on Apr 21 11 at 10:54 amMine knows the traditional Cath9olic Easter and the pagan/Wiccan Ostara. It’s all good. They are pretty aware that most Christian holidays were placed atop pagan sabbats to make the medicine go down easier. Even Easter’s date is determined in a rather pagan manner.
Perfecting Parenthood commented on Apr 21 11 at 11:24 amSimple: Just tell them what you believe. If it’s just a few days off for you then tell them that … don’t make yourself a fibber or put up poor attempts at being open-minded. I don’t think anyone can be open-minded about religion. If you believe then the unbelievers are fatally delusional, and if you don’t believe then believers are stupid. Take a stand whichever way.
Monica Bielanko commented on Apr 21 11 at 12:24 pm@Perfecting Parenthood – That’s definitely the approach I’ll take. It’s just such a weird holiday, you know? Death, resurrection, eggs and chocolate, not to mention the super creepy Santa Clausian rabbit that comes to your house overnight.
Angela commented on Apr 21 11 at 1:06 pm@ Perfecting Parenthood- I am not religious but have many friends and family members who are. It’s not always easy to be respectful of their beliefs, especially like in the case of gay marriage where I feel that their faith is actually harming others, but that doesn’t mean I believe they are stupid or delusional.
Apryl Risoldi commented on Apr 21 11 at 2:03 pmWe tell our kids the true origin of Easter. We also tell them that the baskets, colorful eggs, and candy were all born from peoples celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ. This way the kids can know and appreciate the true meaning of Easter and also have all the fun of the egg hunts and baskets.
Greer commented on Apr 21 11 at 10:43 pmI find all of these different views very inresting. This is what my parents did for me. When I was younger I would always look forward to the candy and the eggs that come along with Easter. But what I looked forward to most then and now was celebrating that my God, Jesus sacrificed his life for me, even when I still messing up! Now don’t get me wrong, as a teenager I still appreciate the chocholate and sweets, but I know the real importance of this holiday. Tomorrow is Good Friday (the day we celebrate Jesus’ death) and it really frustrates me that we get the day off (from school) because it is “Spring Break Day”. Now I get that there are other religions and that the district can not be promoting any of them, but I find it ridiculous that they can’t give us the day off because it is Good Friday. I believe that there is a difference between recognizing and promoting religious holidays. I don’t believe that you should preach something that you don’t believe, but from you posting this blog I’m guessing that you are somewhat intrested in this “Christian Thing”. I’m suggesting that you look online for a children’s message about Easter. This way your children will at least be expossed to what many people hold to them as a dear holiday (they won’t get this message at any public school). I hope you do not take my comments as offensive in any way (that is not there intentions) but as a way of me expressing my opinions that I hope you find helpful. Have a great and blessed Easter.
lam commented on Apr 21 11 at 10:55 pmI explained that a couple thousand years ago, there was a really nice guy named Jesus, and that he worked hard to teach people to be kind and loving toward one another. That he died, and everyone was really, really sad. But lots of people believe that a few days later, he came back to life. And they’re really happy about that, and that’s what they are celebrating on Easter. He’s not buying it.
Perfecting Parenthood commented on Apr 22 11 at 12:50 am@Angela: No, if you are not religious then it is THEY who think YOU are fatally delusional. Ok, maybe you don’t think (or don’t say at least) that they’re totally stupid, but if you think that religion is based on a fairy tale then you would probably think they were a lot smarter if they put their beliefs into something else. I am Christian by the way, but I think I know how non-believers think. It would be the same way I think of people who believe that that if they’ve been buying lottery tickets for 10 years without winning they should keep buying because their number is getting more and more likely to coming up!
Perfecting Parenthood
lam commented on Apr 22 11 at 8:35 am@Perfecting Parenthood – I am atheist, and I don’t fit your non-believer profile. In fact, I find the suggestion that non-believers find the faithful to be stupid very insulting. I only find some of the faithful to be stupid, just like any other group of people. The stupid ones aren’t stupid simply for being believers. They are stupid for feeling that their faith and their god is too small to accommodate our observations about the world, universe, and each other.
MsFortune commented on Apr 22 11 at 12:27 pmI’m with GIB. I’m going to gloss over the bloody gore aspects of the holiday and just make it a fun day to put on pretty dresses, do an easter egg hunt, play in the yard and eat BBQ ribs.
LogicalMama commented on Apr 23 11 at 12:05 amAmen, LAM!!!!
Robert Vroom commented on Apr 23 11 at 6:33 amI am with Angela on this to an extent… I am a Christian, but our grandson is not quite one year old, so for the next few years it will be about bunnies, eggs and chocolate. As he gets a bit older however, we (and our son) will teach him the true meaning of Easter
1) That all people commit crimes against God that a just God must punish
2) That God chose to take this punishment on himself for any who will accept itWe will of course discuss the Cross, the prophecies from the Old Testament (Isaiah 53:4-12 and many others), and explain how this substitutionary atonement works. How is this? Imagine that you are on trial and obviously guilty. The judge gives you a sentence of three months in jail or $10,000, and you cannot pay the $10,000. You beg the judge for mercy, but the punishment is fair and it stands. He then calls you into chambers, takes off the judges robe, goes to the desk and writes you a check for $10,000. You have a choice, take the check and avoid the jail time, or refuse it and go to jail. The choice is yours.
Allie commented on Apr 23 11 at 5:48 pmMy husband is Jewish and I am Christian so on top of Easter we also have Passover. It is fairly simple though. We celebrate both and tell our almost 3 year old the basics of both stories and then explain that they are both about spring time. About the passage from the darkness of winter to the light of spring, from death to life, from slavery to freedom. If you look at them metaphorically all of the major world religions have corresponding celebrations and observances. Heavy concepts but we simplify them and plan to remain consistent. She loves and participates in all the celebrations and doesn’t seem the least bit confused. I try to play down the Easter bunny though as I do Santa clause but she still gets some of that stuff so she doesn’t feel left out of the fun when kids talk about it.
Gib commented on May 11 11 at 9:22 pmRobert Vroom,
I feel sorry for your grandson. That sort of thing you’re planning on telling him is child abuse. The fact you think it’s true doesn’t make it any less damaging to him.How about teaching him about all religions, and what lots of different people believe, and don’t believe, and let him make up his own mind?
holly commented on Aug 29 11 at 8:49 amWe tell them all of the above and you know what they are just happy to Easter egg hunt and eat candy, I figure if they want to believe in a man we can’t even prove existed one day then I’m all for it.. i also teach the kids about Hanukkah on Christmas.. I try to give them lots of “spiritual” options : )
Canuckmom commented on Apr 09 12 at 7:02 pmGIB, if you think that is child abuse you obviously have no idea what abuse is really like. What a terrible thing to say to someone who obviously loves their grandchild.
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